In The Line Of Love

Chapter 3

"Try not to tell."

A FEW WEEKS LATER

Simone sat on the bed, drinking a glass of wine, while staring at the window. Her eyes wondering the streets as she watched the kids playing and animals running about. The trees swayed side to side because the wind began to pick up, warning every one of the storms heading their way. The lights patter of the rain began to fall, and the thunder slowly picked up. The sounds of the storm calmed the storm that was raging inside of Simone. Waking up from her trance, she noticed the storm picked up some. "I should make sure Chi is okay" she said, grabbing her phone and dialing Chi. "Hello?" Chi answered with a slight tone of anxiety. They hated being stuck in storms and Simone knew it. "Where are you? You were only going to Brianna's house for a few hours, right?" she asked with a giggle, she could hear Chi slightly running. "I'm coming through the door right now, shut up" Chi responded giggling and hanging up.

As Chi walked in the door, Simone sat on the couch and cuddled under her thick beige blanket. "Welcome home loser" she said watching Chi take their wet jacket off. "Did you have fun?" she asked Chi with a grin on her face. "Shut up.... I did" Chi said, letting out a laugh. "We had a lot of fun, we watched some movies, we kissed, we did relationship things and I think I really like her" Chi replied with a smile. Simone's eyes lit up as she listened to her best friend talk about how happy they were, and even though she was happy for her friend, she could only feel sad for herself because she was stuck in a bad place and could not talk about it with her friends. This constant worry in her mind was starting to show on her face. How could she hide from her best friend that she was still being abused by her boyfriend? How can she admit that to someone she knows will kill him. "Hey... you seem spaced out" Chi continued, tilting their head at Simone in concern. "I just..." Simone replied, readjusting and bringing her sleeves down to cover her arms. Chi noticed the call for help and their face hardened. "That bruise isn't from that dumb ass RJ, is it?" they asked. The energy in the room shifted so much and they both felt it. "I didn't know what to say..." Simone replied, softening her tone and voice. Chi scoffed and stood up walking towards the kitchen, holding their hands in fists trying to keep themselves calm. "When did he do this?" Chi asked, waiting for Simone to answer, they walked back to the couch and sat down. "Yesterday... when I went to go see him for some of my stuff, he refused to give it to me and he tossed me on the ground" Simone replied, almost crying but able to hold herself together. "We will talk about this later, we have to go to this get together we were invited to, and you need to be able to know, I am fucking here for you. Don't let that bitch scare you. I'll fucking kill him" Chi replied. They both stood up and hugged and went to their rooms to get dressed for a cookout their friends were having. 

*play now*

Simone and Chi walked into the backyard where all of their friends were relaxing and grilling food. "Hey guys!" their friend Eva said, running over to them and smiling, holding a beer. Chi hugged her and smiled, "hey girl, this is my girlfriend Bri" Chi said pulling away and showing Eva who Bri was. "So, this is the pretty girl who is dating my friend, nice to meet you love" she said smiling ear to ear and hugging Bri. "We're family, all we do it hug" she added as she went to hug Simone. "Hey baby" she said kissing Simone on her forehead. Simone smiled and hugged back, looking around at everyone who was here, she noticed Patty was there and almost froze. "
Oh yeah, girl, he's my boyfriend's friend." Eva said smiling. "He and his wife aren't doing too hot, so he's been here a lot, cooling off, come say hi" she added pulling Simone. 

"Baby..." Eva's boyfriend, Sam said as he kissed her hand and pulled her on his lap. "Baby..." she replied kissing him. Their love was so pure and beautiful, Simone wanted that too. She really did. "Hey Simone, long time no see girl" Patty said smiling at her. "Hey Patrick" she replied with a warm smile, sitting beside. him. He scooted beside her, not realizing he got close to her. Chi and Bri walked over and sat at the chairs directly across from them. "It's couples city in this piece." a friend said as they passed by them, causing them to laugh, even though it wasn't funny. "Excuse me everyone I wanted to make an announcement..." Sam said standing up and hitting his glass, causing everyone to look at them. There were only 50 people there, them included so it was a very small gathering. "I put this little family event together because I have been dying to do something and I think this is perfect place." he said as he smiled at everyone. He looked at Eva, grabbing her left hand and kissing it again, before getting down on one knee and looking up at her, the sun was setting right behind them, and he asked her " will you marry me" and she broke down before screaming yes. Everyone there cheered and smiled and took photos. Just the picture perfect moment. 

After the cute proposal and everyone calming down, people were eating again and drinking. Simone sitting on the swing chairs a little closer to the small duck pond Eva and Sam built. Watching the ducks play in the water as she swung back and forth. The moment of silence she had was interrupted by Pat coming to sit with her. "Can I sit?" he asked, pointing to the seat next to her on the swing. "Oh, go for it" she replied, smiling, lowkey blushing and stopping the swing with her feet so that he could sit. "That proposal was so sweet" he spoke, making Simone smile and look down at her fingers. "It was beautiful, I can only imagine how it is to feel that loved" she added, realizing she had just opened up on accident she bit her lip and looked away. He looked at her and smirked before asking her what she meant, adjusting his hat. "I just, I don't know if I can find someone to look at me the way Sam looks at Eva, or Chi looks at Bri" she said, turning to look at her friends, who were dancing and laughing with their significant others.  Pat watched her as she gazed at them, wishing for what they had. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
 he asked, distracting her from herself. "I do, but he just, he isn't" she replied, looking down mid-sentence. The wind blew her black hair across her face, making it easier for her hide her eyes. She shivered at the fall breeze and grabbed her hands tighter. Pat noticed and grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around her, not doing anything to flirt but he cared. He noticed the bruising on her arm and froze. Simone felt his eyes trailing her body and bit her lip out of anxiousness. "Did he do that?" he asked. She exhaled and before she could speak, he put his hand on hers and told her he already knew, and she did not need to answer.  Atear rolled down her face and she began to cry, a soft whimper came from her mouth, and he just held her hand and looked at her before hugging her. Resting her head on his shoulder as the swing swung them back and forth. They were far enough apart from the others that in this moment they were alone and felt safe and secure. "You know, my wife and I, aren't doing great. We're separated right now. She started doing things I can't seem to wrap my mind around. She seems all about the money now and she wasn't like that at the start." he said. Simone sat up and looked at him, his eyes softening at her presence. "You are so much more than that" she said smiling, while wiping away a tear. He smiled at her and for a moment, both of them felt at peace.

*PLAY SONG ABOVE NOW *

They sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward. He looked at her every feature, tracing her frame with his eyes. The moonlight glistening off her brown skin, twinkle dancing in her eyes like a flickering flame. He felt his heart skip a beat every time she giggles. She felt her breathing stop any time he smiled. They talked for what seemed like hours with one another on that swing. Venting, talking about their lives and what they would do differently. Just any and everything. 

From a far Eva noticed and hit Chi's arm to motion towards the two. She smiled at her fiancé and then Chi. "You think he's going to be the one to save her?" She asked. "I think they're going to save each other.